Gas Chamber
by Rescue45
Summary: Starsky and Hutch are stuck in an elevator. Will they survive?


Thank you Sandy for the idea and suggestions for this one, and thank you Sarah for the title.

Gas Chamber

It was pouring down rain and the sound of thunder filled the air. The lightning strikes came in blinding white flashes. One clap of thunder hit so close, Starsky jumped. Hutch did too a little, but laughed at his partner anyway. They ran to the car, getting drenched in the process.

They had just finished eating a nice big Mexican dinner at Kiko's restaurant. Hutch had wanted to take the stairs, but Starsky didn't feel like walking up the flight of stairs. Starsky was finishing his extra super size Dr. Pepper when he pushed the button to the elevator.

"You know, Starsk, if you ate less heavy meals, you'd be able to walk up the stairs."

"I'm too old to walk up steps."

"You're too lazy to walk up one flight of steps."

"Whatever, I don't want to walk up the steps, just this once."

"Yeah, okay." The elevator door opened and they stepped inside. Starsky pushed the button to the second floor. The light lit up and the elevator started going up. Then the lights flickered off and the elevator stopped. "Oh great, just great." The emergency lights came on.

"Well at least the lights came on."

"I wonder how long were going to be stuck here."

"I hope not long."

They noticed it was starting to get hot in the little elevator. Hutch tried his cell phone, but there was no reception. Starsky tried his too, but didn't have any more luck than Hutch did. Hutch opened the little silver door to the elevator phone. It was no use, no one answered the other end. They were stuck in the elevator.

Then Hutch heard it. An unmistakable sound that let him know his partner had one too many bean burritos with jalapenos or maybe it was the overloaded tostadas he had. Starsky looked at Hutch and said, "Sorry about that."

"You just had to have that last burrito didn't you?" There was a short pause then came the odor. "Awe, Starsk. Next time we take the stairs." He buried his head in his shirt.

"I'm sorry." Came the laughing reply.

Another ten minutes went by and Hutch had to wonder how much gas one person could actually have without floating away. "Awe, come on Starsk, no more burritos for you."

"I've got another problem now." Starsky had that 'I'm uncomfortable' look on his face. He started pacing.

Hutch looked around and said, "One or two."

"One."

"Thank God for that." He looked around and said, "Hey, use the cup. It's empty right?"

"Oh yeah, good idea."

Hutch mumbled, "Well, I am the brains of this duo."

"What?"

"Oh nothing."

Starsky did his business in the cup and sat it carefully on the floor. Hutch sat down too. They had no way of knowing how long they were going to be stuck and no one knew where they were. Their wives were working the late shift and Davey went to karate practice, Kenny had gone with him to watch. It would be hours before anyone would know they were missing.

Starsky sat down for about five minutes then started pacing in the little elevator again.

"Now what?"

"I'm bored."

"I'm in trouble."

"You know I hate being bored."

"No kidding." Hutch smirked. Starsky really hated to be bored. He was bad enough on stakeouts and this time he was in a small box. Hutch knew he'd better think of something or he would have to play one of Starsky's little games. Then he thought maybe he could make up one of his own games and keep his partners mind off their situation. "I have an idea, Starsk."

"What's that?"

"Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we?"

"What did you have in mind?" There was another sound, then the odor.

"Again, really?" Starsky ignored his partner, but he felt like he would never eat another bean burrito again.

"Well let's think about all the funny stuff we've seen or done during our careers." Hutch smiled, this could actually be fun.

"Can I start?"  
"Sure, knock yourself out."

"I remember when you were Charlie McBride and I was Ramon."

"You always bring up Ramon."  
"Yeah, but this time I was remembering what you had to do, or rather what you did do." He laughed.

"I'd rather forget that one." He laughed too.

"What about the time you bought that hot watch from Huggy? The look on your face when you found out you bought a stolen watch was priceless." They both laughed.

"Then I made him pay me back every penny."

"I think he was afraid we were going to arrest him if he didn't."

They both looked at each other and said, "The sprinklers."

Starsky laughed harder and said, "Now that, that was classic. I thought they were going to kick you out of the hospital for good."

"They did try. The nurse gave up the third time I snuck into your room. I wasn't giving up. I felt so guilty when they had to change all your bandages. I had to be there for you."

"You were so drunk. I think they were scared to let you leave."

"Dobey and Huggy sure left in a hurry." They both laughed again.

Starsky said, "What about the time we snuck into Chief Sterling's office and rearranged all his furniture."

Hutch was laughing as he said, "Yeah, then he was afraid he was losing his mind and acted like nothing happened."

"Now that was a good one. It took him two weeks to figure out what we did."

"He tried to sound mad when he called us into his office."

"Yeah, and we both had such straight faces and denied it so well. You know, Hutch, I'm not sure he ever found out it was us."

"Oh he knows, he knows. Who else would have done that and gotten away with it?"

"You know, Hutch, we haven't tormented him in a while."

"I don't know about that. We show up for work every day, don't we?"

Starsky laughed in agreement and said, "It's time we do something else."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, I don't know, but something. Somethin' funny."

"We could do the old Deli or plumbing service cards again." Hutch got up and stretched a minute and then he sat back down.

"He'd know for sure it was us. Dobey told him about that."

"Let's put a new picture on his wall."

"Hey, let's put a new commendation on his wall."

Hutch was laughing and said,"And what should this commendation say?"

"I don't know. Let's think about it."

"You know we'll get in trouble for it."

"After everything we've done, you're worried about that now?"

"Naw, not really." Hutch heard that sound again and right behind it came the predictable odor. He just looked at Starsky and buried his head in his arm again. "You know, Starsk, if there's much more gas in here this little box we're in is going to explode."

"I can't help it."

"I know. I just wish it wasn't so hot in here." They both took off their jackets. They were sweating. Starsky reached over to take a sip out of his cup. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Starsk."

He looked at his cup and was about to take a drink and said, "Huh, why?" Hutch's laugh reminded him that it was no longer Dr. Pepper in the cup. "Oh yeah, thanks. That would not have been funny."

"Woulda been to me." He chuckled.

They could still hear the rain and the lightning outside. The elevator moved a little. They thought it was finally going to open. It didn't, instead it dropped a few feet and stopped. That scared them. Starsky said, "You know, Hutch, I always thought I'd get it out there on the streets not in a stuck elevator."

"Oh come on, Starsk, you're not gonna die in here."

"How can you be so sure?"

" 'Cause you're with me." Hutch gave Starsky one of his reassuring smiles. Starsky nodded.

When the elevator started getting cool they thought it was nice. But it kept getting colder. They put their jackets back on. They had been talking so long they didn't realize it was almost midnight. They knew their wives and boys would be worried. They were sure there was an APB out on them by now. Finally, the phone on the elevator rung and Starsky answered it. The voice on the other end asked if they were trapped in it. "No, we just wanted to have a nice quiet place to chat for hours." The voice told him that he was sorry and the damage was so bad it would take about six to eight more hours to fix it. Starsky asked the voice to call their wives and let them know where they were and to call the station. Hutch was getting pretty cold now and was actually huddled in the corner. Starsky hung up the phone and sat next to Hutch as close as he could to keep them both warm. Hutch wasn't sure if he wanted Starsky to sit so close to him right now, but he was getting cold so he didn't protest.

They fell asleep like that, huddled together in the corner of the elevator and that's how they were found the next morning at about 0800 when the doors opened. There were about ten people standing there looking at the two of them, including their wives and boys, and Chief Sterling. Starsky and Hutch, of course, were not the least bit embarrassed when they opened their eyes and noticed the crowd. They looked at each other and grinned. They have been seen in worse situations than this.

Davey laughed, shook his head and said, "There's my hero." He stepped inside the elevator and said, "Are you two okay? We were so worried until we got that call."

"I know you were, Son, I'm sorry. We tried to call" Kenny and Davey helped their dads up.

Jeanne and Debbie hugged their husbands. They had been worried about them. Jeanne said, "Let's go have a nice breakfast."

Starsky and Hutch left the elevator in a hurry after kissing their wives and Starsky said, "First things first." They walked to the nearest bathroom.


End file.
